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LP Smart Siding

Replacing Siding in Indianapolis With LP Smart Siding

Many people would agree that nothing makes the exterior of a house more attractive than wood. Even a person who feels that way, though, may hesitate to choose wood siding because of its vulnerability to termites, carpenter ants, woodpeckers, and wet weather. It’s only natural if you hesitate to buy wooden cladding for your home because you don’t want to see the siding crumble, warp, or rot away in a matter of years.

Fortunately, modern building methods provide alternatives that offer the visual appeal of wood while eliminating many of the drawbacks. One such option is our engineered wood product LP SmartSide.

Features & Benefits

One of the most durable lap siding options in the market today

16’ length can result in faster installation

May create fewer seams than traditional 12’ siding

Pre-primed for exceptional paint adhesion

Treated engineered wood strand or fiber substrate

What is LP siding?

LP SmartSide siding is what’s known as engineered siding or an engineered wood product. To make it, the manufacturer coats wood strands with resin binders and compresses them into a board. The wood strands are arranged geometrically to promote dimension stability, and a special edge coating provides extra protection against bad weather.

In fact, the boards receive multiple treatments and coatings. A zinc-borate treatment defends against rot and termites, and an overlay protects against moisture while providing the added benefit of making them easier to paint. The embossing involved with the overlay also provides a cedar-grain pattern to make the board look like natural wood.

Overall, the manufacturing process, requiring as it does heavy-duty exterior glue and subjecting the board to extreme pressure and heat, yields a particularly strong and solid result, one that provides the advantages you may well be looking for if you’re considering a wood siding alternative.

Advantages of an Indianapolis LP Smart Siding project

Appearance

As noted above, perhaps the greatest appeal of LP Siding is that it creates the appearance of natural wood. You can use SmartSide products either to provide complete cladding for a home or to accent an exterior that’s primarily finished in brick, stucco, or stone. LP SmartSide siding is available in cedar-grain texture or smooth and in a variety of finish options, and it comes in longer (16’) lengths that eliminate seams and so further enhance the house’s curb appeal. (Longer boards cut down on waste as well.)

Durability

As already mentioned, an engineered wood product, whether it’s LP Smart Siding or LP Smart trim, holds up better than natural wood. It resists harsh weather in any climate including this one. It withstands hail and impact damage better than vinyl siding, and it resists fungal decay and termites as well.

But it’s not just more durable than natural wood. A comparison of LP siding with untreated T1-11 plywood, vinyl, and metal siding indicated that only the SmartSide product provided benefits in six key areas. It was free of knots, patches, and face voids, resisted termites, resisted fungal decay, resisted splitting and cracking, resisted dents, and offered a pleasing cedar grain texture. Each of the three alternatives fell short in at least one respect.

Workability

You might imagine all that durability comes at the cost of workability, that LP SmartSide siding must be dense, heavy, and hard to cut. But in reality, it’s easier to work with engineered wood.

LP siding is lighter and cuts just like ordinary wood. As long as you store it and apply it properly, there won’t be a problem with splitting or warping because each board emerges from the manufacturing process straight and ready for use.

Painting is easy, too. Any premium 100% acrylic latex paint should make the siding look terrific. You just have to make sure all the horizontal seams are caulked before you start.

Because LP siding is so durable, homeowners shouldn’t have to do much maintenance, and the manufacturer is able to offer a 30-year transferable warranty on the siding system itself as well as a seven-year 100% labor and replacement warranty.

Expense

As a general rule, the material for a SmartSide siding Indianapolis installation will cost about half as much as the material for a natural wood installation.

Because SmartSide siding is lighter and easier to work with, installing it is cheaper. Additionally, special features like SmartLock, LP’s self-aligning edge design, make the work go faster. It’s also possible to buy the siding pre-primed or pre-finished, which likewise reduces the number of man hours required.

Environmentally friendly

SmartSide siding is considered a green product in that it uses wood economically and thus doesn’t promote excessive, unsustainable cutting of trees.

LP SmartSide siding vs. cement fiber siding

Engineered wood isn’t the only wood alternative available. Cement fiber siding can also lend the appearance of wood while providing greater durability.

Cement fiber is made of a mixture of wood fiber, Portland cement, sand, and certain other materials. It comes in a number of siding patterns and can be smooth or given a cedar look and texture. It’s highly durable and provides resistance to warping, rot, severe weather, and insects. It’s also easy to paint.

So it’s plain that LP siding and cement fiber siding share a number of features in common. Still, there are some differences that may help you decide which is the better choice for you.

LP siding is more resistant to hail and impact damage.

Whether you choose to install LP or cement fiber siding, the cost of the siding itself may be about the same (half of what natural wood would cost.) But engineered wood is light and easy to work with. Whereas only a team of specially trained building professionals with special tools can install cement fiber siding. As you might expect, such a job is likely to run into more hours, require more manpower, and so cost more.

The cement fiber siding is likely to come with a better warranty, though. 50-year transferable warranties are available, as opposed to the 30-year one for LP siding.

Cement fiber siding is also quite fire resistant, and it’s frequently the choice of people whose homes are in areas prone to wildfire.

Could there be problems with your Indianapolis LP SmartSide installation?

Of course, no product starts out perfect or foolproof, and that includes engineered wood siding. Over the years, homeowners have occasionally reported moisture-related problems stemming from product imperfections and installation mistakes. Most problems occurred, however, when LP was employing a less sophisticated manufacturing process than the one currently in use.

The newer SmartSide siding has been installed on more than 1.5 million houses and almost invariably served the homeowner well. Additionally, in the unlikely event that a problem arises, a strong warranty is in place to correct it. Accordingly, consumers can purchase LP siding with confidence.

Your Indianapolis LP siding project: Conclusion

Many homeowners find the appearance of natural wood siding appealing but worry about its relative lack of durability in the face of harsh weather and pests as well as its expense. If you’re one of those people, LP SmartSide siding is an option well worth considering.